Throttle-controlling means for motor-vehicles.



- A. L00Mrs. I THROTTLE CONTROL-LING MEANS EOR M OTOR VEHICLES.

7 APPLICATION BLED PEB.16,1 90=. 1,53,188;.-

3.BHEETSSHB BT 1.

flue-W 5 Patented Feb. 18

.1 lilllllll i A. LO0MIS.- THROTTLE CONTROLLING MEANS FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED 1 13.16, 1 909.

Patentgd .Feb. 18, 1913.

a SHEETS-SHEET s.

- the throttl'e'valve in the intake of the'hydrofeatures hereafter more fully described;

- my adjustable hand lever for controllii'igthej column of 'the'vehicle' operatively connected hereafter pointed out.) p

- is a side view of a portion of a motor ve,-

end viewpf what is shown in Fig; 5.

engines 2 and 3. A butterflyfthrottle' valve I UNITED sTATEs ATENT Omen;

ALLEN LOOMIS, OF DETROIT, vlvliIQHlfirAhT,

ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE nssienmnn'rs, To

PACKARD MOTOR'CAR COMPANY, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

THRdTTLE-GONTROLLING Mnnns FOB, MOTOR-VEHICLES.

Application filed February 16, 1909. Serial No. 478,329.

carbon motor. Its objects areto simplify and improve the throttle; actuating mechanism, whereby it maybe operated --in0re easily'and controlledmore accurately; To'these ends the invention consists in the In the accompanying drawings,+Figure 1- hicle embodying my improved controlling; mechanism; Fig. .2 is a detail view showing the controlling mechanism-in closed pposition; Fig. 3 is a similardetail.view-showing. the mechanism in a partially open-position; Fig; 4 is a top plan view-.of-theflsteeri-ng wheel of the motor vehicle haviiig'thereonthrottle valveof the 'motor; Fig-dis a side View partly section of an automatic hyf draulic governor having my ilrl ;rbved con--- n'ectionwith the throttle'valve; fig. 6 is an As shown in the. drawings, theilthrottle valve is provided with three means-for actuating it. The first'of these mea-ns consistsof an automatically acting governor con- I nected withthe valve; the second consists" of'a hand lever' atthe top of the steering tothe valve and the thirdconsists of a pedal lever at the-floor-of t-he'vehicle-coiinected withthe valve, this last .mentioned. lever being ordinarily termed thefacpeleratorp Th p sschiiirsnti n s n th constru'c tion of these opepating-jmeans;l1and their relations to each other, whereby certain novel functions and results, are-se'cured 'as:

In Fig. 1 of'the drawings, 'l y repres ents the-intake pipe which leaqsfi m the car' bureter to the cylinders oftlie hydrocarbon 4 mounted upon shaftis placed in this intake pipe and controls the passage of the combustible fluid to the motors. Keyed to the shaft 5 there is an arm 6, and piv'otally connected tothis arm in alaterally projaecting portion 7, is alink-arm 8 connected at its other end to a. governor 9, the length. of this link arm being controlled by thetu'rn- 6obuckle 10. A rigid arm 11 connects the inf. take casing and the governor casing so'as to maintain them in proper'position and. at

the proper distance apart. The motor verhicle dasli 12 supports the steering column 13 and mounted, upon this column is a-longi-f" tud nally sliding sleeve 14 whichis operated by a hand lever 15 at the top of the steering column by means of connections on the ink.

' side of thehollow steering columnf1-3. Theparticular structure of these connections forms no partof the. present'invent-iombe- -.,'n g substantially thatcovered in the patent toSchmidt 775,991. The hand lever 15 extendsradially'from the steeringjcolumn with "its martian; near the rim of the steering 'wheel; it makes adjustable engagement 'withthe otched s'egment '16'mounted upon ,thez-spok *of thefsteering wheel. This (as fgageinent. 6f the handlever with the notched segment enabl'es'the operator to'adjust this 1 hand control to any desired position where ,twilljbe-hld firmly in place. ,Alever 17 ,mounted upon oneof the spokes of the.

wheel is-"adapted to operate thespa'rk control of the motor by connections whichform nopa'rt' of thepresent invention.

a depending arm 19 {provided with an eye atj'its lower' en'dengaging the rod 20 which is connected to the throttle arm. 6. ,Coiled' springs 21, 22 surround the rod- 20 onioppo- 9'5 site-sides of the arm 19. andbearjagainst it, ,the'se springs being held in. position by the adjustable 1111:3 23, 24?. It. will thusbe 'apparent that the motion of the handlever 15 is 'not impart'ed. directly to the throttle arm;-100 6, but hasazfle'xible connectionthrough the' sp fi l 'gsfabove des r i I 11111 "Fig. 4 I have used he. retfrenceiletx" -ters 'A, B and G to indicate certain posi-- Mountedfl upon a projection '18 upon --a' f ..fixed part of the base ofthe steering column is a bell crank leverlt) having onearm engagingthe sliding collar 14 and also having I the pedal 25.

armis in the position A. the throttle valve is closed and the parts are in the positions shown in Fig. 2-. When in the position B, the throttle valve is partially open as shown in Fig. 3, and it will 'be'observed thatin this position the spring 22 is fully compressed due to the action of the gover nor 9 tending to close the throttle; against th action of'the hand lever 15. In Fig.1] the irottle valve is fully. open with the parts coresponding to position C of the hand leve1'15.

n 25 is pivotally supported at 26 upon a fiXe portion of the steering column base and e. tends above the inclined portion of the veh' lever is commonly te ed the accelerator pedal and it has a depe g arm 28 which is adjustably secured to the lid of the rod 20 by means of the elevis 29. It will thus beapparent that the accelerator pedal is directly connected to the throttle arm 6 and will thus positivtly open the throttle whenever it is depressed. It will be observed that by the construction described the hand lever 15 may be adjusted to yieldingly sition, and that while so held the accelerator pedal may be used to positively secure a further openingof the valve. As soon as the accelerator pedal is released the valve will return to the position where it is yieldingly held by the hand lever.

It-is found in practice that at times it 'is desirable to control the speed of the mo- 40 tor almost entirely by the accelerator pedal 25 and in this case the hand lever 15 is placed in position A shown in Fig. 2, which holds the throttle valve & yieldably in closed position, in which position the motor will run at its minimum speed, mixture being supplied to it through a small bypass around the throttle valve, and the 7 motor may then be accelerated by use of But at other times or by other persons, it may be desirable to control the motor almost entirely by the hand lever 15. In such hand control the connection between the bell crank lever 19 and rod 20 including the compressible spring 22 has special advantages since by the arrangement of parts above described the motor may be delicately controlled'by the hand lever 15 from a minimum speed of fouryor five miles per hour of the vehicle to a speed of twenty-five or thirty miles per hour of the vehicle, this range 'of speed being obtained by said lever between the positions A and B on the segment 16. But

from position B to position C on the segmenta much quicker opening of .the throtgard to the action of the governor.

hold the throttle valve at any desired po-.

messes tle is obtained and approximately the maximum speed of the motor obtained at position 0. The delicacy of control above described \depends upon the size and adjustment of the spring 22. This spring, as will be seen by reference to Figs. 2 and 3 is so designed with reference to the action of the governor that it is entirely compressed when the motor has reached the speed which drives the vehicle at about twenty-five or thirty miles per hour, tlfis'speed being reached when the throttleds open-from one-third to one half of its maximum. This compression of the spring is duee to the fact that the governor is directly connected to the throttle arm and opposes the action of the hand operated means tending to open the throttle, and thisyopposition increases as the throttle, opens. A the throttle is closed and the spring 22 is open, but as the lever is moved in the position B the spring 22 is entirely closedas shown in Fig. 8, thus making a rigid connection between the bell crank lever 19 and the throttle valve. In moving from B to C therefore thelever 15 imparts its motion positively to the throttle without re- In other words, the first two thirds of the travel of the hand lever is required to open the throttle valvevone-third Orone-half of its maximum and only the remaining onethird of the travel of the hand lever 15 is required to open the throttle the remaining two-thirds or one-half of its maximum. Thus a more delicate control of the vehicle is obtained up to twenty-five miles per hour, and thereafter thegovernor is practically cut out of action and the throttle valve may be opened wideby the hand lever.

In addition to the functions and advantag'es of the hand actuated control mechanism above described it serves theadditional purpose of enabling the operator to partially overcome the action of the governor so as to make it easier to operate the accelerator pedal. In other words the hand lever 15 may be set in such a position as to partially compress the spring 22 and thus partially overcome the opposing action of the governor,'and make iteasier to depress the foot lever 25.

Since the governor, either of the fly-bal] or hydraulic type, is connected directly to thethrottle arm, it opposes the action of the accelerator pedal in opening the throttle valve,- and in the constructions in common Vhen the lever 15 is in the position opposes the pedal.

clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5 where'I this objection, by the provision of a novel connection bet-ween the governor and the throttle valve. This connection includes partsfwhich have a toggle action which reduces the force with which the governor This constructmn 1s have shown a governor of the hydraulic type. v

The governor 9 is provided with a leather or rubber diaphragm 30 and secured to this p gm is a metal plate 31 whichjhas riveted i it .the cylindrical projection "32 moving the cylindrical projection 33 on the governor casing. The relative movement of the parts 32 and 33 islimited by a 'p'in'3 l entering the slot 35. Water is forced through the pipe 36 by means which will be understood varying in" speed with thespeed of the motor and .thiswate'r entering the governor casing bearsupon the diaphragm tending to forceit to the left in Fig. 5 in accordance with the pressure with which e -et'er -is driven through-the pipe 36.

The-linkarm 8 is pivotally connectedat 37 to the cylindrical extension or sleeve 32 and as above described is pivotally connected at its other end to the projection 7 upon the arm 6. will. be seen by reference to Fig. '1 that when the throttlevalve is open the link arm-8 extends: in a direction almost in line with .the shaft '5 of the throttle valve,

. whereby the leverage is'very slight and consequently the --govel"norv exerts ,very little force in tending to close the valve. This arrangement of connection between the governor. and throttle arm reduces the power necessary in operatingthedaccelerator pedal to positively open the .throttleagainst theactionof the governor. In order to prevent the link arm 8 from-reaching thedead 'center'r line with the shaft 5 a stop 3 8;is placed on the intake casing against which the arm 6 strikes. The pipes 391 and lO areth water pipes fox-supplying heating liquid to the acket ofthe intake.

Having thus 'des'cribedTt-he invention',iwha t is claimed is:'= a

1. In amotorf'vehiclei'the' coinbination" with the inotor'intake, andth'ethrottle valve therein, of a governorconnectedto' :said

valve, andmanually controlled means hav mg a yieldlng-connectonpwlth "said-valve adapted to become'a rigid connection when. said valve has been opened afipredeterm-lned amount.

2. In 'a .maonahiciarte-cabana with a valve,-o'f-fafdeviceifor Opening saidvalve comprisingspnng means which oper latter "partthere'of.

ates yielding-lyduring the first part off'the opening movement and rigidly oluring'rv the 3. In a motor vehicle, the combination withthefmot-or intake and the. throttle valve therein, ofdeviccs foncontrolling-said valve trol lever therefonand spring means wheremore fully.

tween the'rod'and said. arm increases as the connecting said.,footflever andv said Ivalve operating said lever.-

comprising yielding springm'eans which becomes rigid as the valve is opened.

4.. In a qnotor vehicle, the combination with the motor intake and the throttle valve therein, of a manual operating lever, and devices 'for controlling said valve from said lever including a yielding spring connection which becomes rigid as the throttle valve is opened by said lever. v

5. The combination with a valve, of a con- 5 by a givenmovementof said lever operates to yieldably. open said valve a. fractional amount and a continued movement of said lever operates to positively open. said valve 6. In a motor vehicle, the combination with the motor intake and the throttle'valve' therein, of two-actuating dcvicesfor said i valve, one of, which is positively connected with said valve and the other of whichis flexibly connected with. .said I valve, said flexible connection becoming rigid as the valve is opened by the latter'of said devices Ina motor'vehicle, the combination-"" with jthe intake of a hydrocarbon engine, of'j athrottlevalve. in said intake, .anarmg ifor operating said valve,- agovernor," a rod positively connecting said governor .with 1 said arm and so arranged that the angle he-' valve is opened,--a foot lever, and arod p'ositively connecting said. foot lever and said V lve arm. a 8. In a motor'vehicle', theycombiiiation. with .the intake of a hydrocarbon engine," of a throttle valve in said in'take, an arm for operating said'valve, a governor, 'a'rod posltlvely. connecting a said governor. with said arm and "so arranged that the angleibe-r tweenthefrod and saidjarm, increases asv the valve is openedya' foot lever, a rod;positively arm,a steering column for the veh iclafa 'leverat the base of said steering column embracing 'said last ment oned rod, spring .connection@betvveenv said lever and rod, and

hand operatedj' cans "on said columdfor 9.11m afmotor v-ehicle, 't-he combination wi t-h-the intake. of 'a hydrocarbonengine, of 1 a throttle valvelin: said'fintake, an arm .for. operatingsaid-valve, a g governor, .a =rod':

- positively connecting -saidgovernor with "said, arm and so arranged that the anglebe' tween therod and saidarm increases fastl-ie a valve isopened, a'"rod positively connected tosa'id valve arm, a lever embracing saidjro'd' havingspring"- connection"therewith,. and

means-for moving said leverand'holding it in'adjusted positions.= y 10. In a motor-vehicle, thecombination with the. intake of a hydrocarbon engine, of; a .throttle valve in said intake, a governor' adapted toautomatically close' sa'id valve,

means for opening said valve against the action'of the governor, said parts being so 'arranged that the resistance of the. governor decreases as the valve is Opened. 11. In a motor-vehicle, the combination with the intake of'a hydrocarbon engine, of a throttle valve in said intake, an arm for actuating said valve, a governor operatively connected with said arm and adapted to 1.0 automatically move the arm to closethe valve, and manually operable means for opening he valve against the action of the governor, said parts being sov arranged thatthe resistance, of the governor to said manually ope'rable means decreases as the valve is opened.

12. 111 a motor vehicle, the combination with the intake of a hydrocarbon engine, of

i la pivotally mountedthrottle valve in said ZO intake, an arm connected with the pivot of said-valveand adapted to actuate the valve;

- "a governor, a manually operable lever, a rod connecting said lever with said arm, and means connecting the governor with said arm and having pivotal connection with the i arm at a point out of the line between the valve pivot and the connection between the arm and said rod.

13.In a motor vehicle, the combinatlon with the intake of a hydrocarbon engine, of

a pivotally mounted throttle valve in said intake, an arm connected with the valve ivot and adaptedto actuate the valve, a cot lever,'a rod. pivotally connecting said foot lever and said arm, a governor arranged on the opposite side of said arm from said foot lever, a rod operatively connecting said governor with said arm, a hand lever, and means connecting saidhand lever and said arm and yieldable for a certain portion of the stroke of the hand lever and rigid -for the remaining portion of the stroke thereof.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.

I ALLEN LOOMIS. 

